Fire Emblem has had somewhat of a strange history in the west. Most people became familiar with the series thanks to two of its characters inclusion in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Marth and Roy quickly became popular and people started gaining interest in the Fire Emblem series as a whole. Seeing the success of the Advance Wars series in North America and Europe, Nintendo decided to localize the seventh installment of Fire Emblem for western audiences. While it is indeed the seventh game in a franchise that saw birth on the Famicom, it was simply titled Fire Emblem (I will be referring to it as Blazing Sword). Considering the series has spawned six sequels since with a recently announced fourteenth entry on the way, it's safe to assume this particular game was successful. Looking back however, is the game still enjoyable to play over ten years after its release?

(Note: The next section is an introduction to the series for those who are unfamiliar with it. If you already know how the series plays, feel free to skip ahead to hear about this game in more detail.)

For those unfamiliar with the Fire Emblem series, it is a tactical role-playing game with RPG elements. If you've ever seen or played the Advance Wars series or even something like Final Fantasy Tactics or Tactics Ogre, then you'll have a general idea of the gameplay. The game consists of moving various units around a map to complete various objectives. The main thing that sets Fire Emblem apart from other strategy RPG's is the permanent death system. Basically, each unit in your army is unique. Unlike Advance Wars, you can't manufacture more units, so if one of your units dies in battle they are gone forever. This forces you to be extremely strategic, as you can end up losing valuable characters with no way to get them back. More so, it also helps to create a bond with the characters themselves. Each one has their own motivations and personalities, and you really get attached to them throughout the course of the game. There are other defining elements to the series as well, such as the weapons triangle, item management, and promotions. The weapons triangle works as a rock-paper-scissors game for your weapons. Swords have an advantage over axes, axes have an advantage over lances, and lances have the advantage over swords. It's a fun gameplay twist that just adds again to the strategic nature of the game. You also need to manage your weapons wisely, as each weapon has a limited number of uses and money to buy more is limited. Additionally, your units gain experience by fighting in battle. Every 100 experience earned levels that unit up for a chance to improve their stats. Each unit can go up to level 20, but upon reaching level 10 some units can use a promotional item to change classes. This provides additional boosts to stats as well as letting some units use new weapon types. Personally, this is one of my favorite mechanics of the series and promoting a unit is incredibly satisfying. While each game in the series has slightly different features and additions, the core gameplay remains the same. It can be incredibly difficult and frusturating at times, but overall it is an incredibly rewarding system.

While Nintendo usually tends to focus on gameplay driven experiences, Fire Emblem is a surprisingly narrative driven experience, and Blazing Sword is no different. The game starts by having you create a tactician profile used for a character in the game who represents the player. Yes, Blazing Sword had a player avatar before Awakening did, but I digress. There is no real customization for your character aside from the name. You don't directly control your tactician, and they are mainly present for the story. It's a strange feature, but it does give you some sense of immersion since characters will talk to you directly. Avatar character aside, the game stars three main lords named Lyn, Eliwood and Hector. Lyn's story serves as a short ten chapter tutorial, easing new players into the game and teaching them the gameplay mechanics. It stars Lyn, a young nomad from the plains of Sacae whose parents were recently killed by bandits. Thinking she has no family left, she discovers she is actually heir to the throne of Caelin. You follow her on her quest to reach the castle and meet her long lost uncle, with a few obstacles along the way of course. It's a simple, but charming story that really serves no purpose other than to teach newcomers how to play. Completing this gives you access to Eliwood's story which is the real meat of the game. It follows Eliwood on a quest to find his missing father, only to discover a sinister plot filled with twists and turns. Okay, so the story is actually pretty basic. I've never thought of the Fire Emblem series as being particularly strong in the plot department though. What really makes the story interesting is the characters, and Blazing Sword has some excellent characters. The main trio of Lyn, Eliwood and Hector are very entertaining, and they are backed up by a solid supporting cast. The story keeps things interesting across all 30 or so chapters, and none of them feel like filler content. It may be a basic tale about good vs. evil, but the story is still very engaging.

One thing to note is that the game ends on a cliffhanger of sorts. The problem with this is that the story is actually continued by the previous game, Fire Emblem 6, which was never released outside of Japan. You can find fan translations of the game online, but it's still disappointing we never got the full narrative in the west.

Gameplay wise, Blazing Sword is pretty much the quintessential Fire Emblem experience. All the staples of the series are here such as rescuing, the weapon and magic triangles, promotions, permanent death, and the trademark difficulty. Fire Emblem is a series known for its challenging nature, and paired with the permanent death system it can get extremely tricky. Thankfully, for the first Fire Emblem released outside of Japan the difficulty is fairly balanced. Don't get me wrong, this game is hard and I had to reset many times because of errant moves or enemy reinforcements I wasn't expecting, but it never feels unfair. Playing the same chapter two or three times can get frustrating, but you always feel like you have a chance and it's your fault if one of your units dies. Lyn's story serves as a great tutorial for beginners, though the amount of text can be annoying when you just want to get to the gameplay. Series veterans in particular may not find the prospect of sitting through the prologue chapters very enticing. Thankfully, after you've beaten Lyn's story once you can skip straight to Eliwood's story on following playthroughs. I think Nintendo did a really great job making this game accessible to newcomers without discouraging older fans. It's a great introduction to the series without sacrificing any of the depth and strategy you would expect from the series. The difficulty curve is also one of the most balanced in the series, providing a good challenge without ever feeling to overwhelming.

As far as the audio and visual presentation go, it's pretty good for the Gameboy Advance. The graphics aren't pushing the system's capabilities, but the spritework is excellent and the environments are nice to look at. I really like the way each class has its own unique sprite, and the amount of detail in the battle animations is particularly impressive. The soundtrack is also solid, with some great compositions. While it may not be very memorable, the music is enjoyable and helps create emotion. You may not buy Fire Emblem because of the way it looks and sounds, but it still has a great presentation considering the system's limitations.

In a series where the gameplay has remained relatively the same over 20 years, there's only so much you can do to make a game stand out. Blazing Sword may have more simplistic gameplay than some of its predecessors, but there's a beauty in that simplicity. It gives you just enough complexity to keep things entertaining without unnecessarily complicating them. But the real reason this game is so great is because of the story. It may seem like a cliche fantasy tale about knights, magic, and dragons, but there are enough plot twists to keep things entertaining. The roster of characters is excellent as well, and the main trio in particular are likable and funny. The addition of the player avatar also helps give that much more immersion into the story, and you actually feel like you are a part of it to some degree; rather than just watching the events unfold from the outside. It's hard to pin down just what makes this installment of Fire Emblem so engaging, but it just has a certain charm to it. It's the perfect place for beginners to try out the series, but seasoned players can also have a great time with Blazing Sword. If you own a GBA or a Wii U, then you should definitely give Fire Emblem a try. I consider this a must own for everyone's collection.